


Three Four, Knock at the Door

by AppalachianApologies



Series: Appalachian's 2020 Whumptober [25]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Bombs, Concussions, Head Injury, Head trauma, Hurt Spencer Reid, Hurt/Comfort, Italian Papa, Papa Rossi, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Spencer Reid Whump, Whump, Whumptober 2020, all of those and more because Uncle Rossi is iconic and i haven't written enough of him, for the first time in like four days there's no dad hotch here, instead we got Papa Pasta, like a bomb going off next to him yah like a bomb going off next to him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27192943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AppalachianApologies/pseuds/AppalachianApologies
Summary: Why is it that Spencer always seems to draw the short end of the stick when it comes to locations?Day 25: Blurred Vision | Disorientation
Series: Appalachian's 2020 Whumptober [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948174
Comments: 30
Kudos: 204
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Three Four, Knock at the Door

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Hi! How're you all doing this fine *checks phone* Sunday? I took a break from writing Hotch, because although I love him, I do need a little bit of a break sdkldsfljkf. Fear not! We still have lots of comfort with our favorite Italian Uncle :D
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Spencer isn’t quite sure why Emily sent Luke and Rossi along with him to the house, especially when there was a threat of a bomb. None of them were deterred with the threat itself, but Spencer’s well aware of Luke and Rossi’s past and the PTSD they took back with them. 

That being said, they had two locations, so Emily didn’t have much of a choice when it came down to it. Both of the addresses came with bomb threats, and the BAU didn’t have time for all of them to go to each location. 

Which is how Spencer ended up being thrown against the SUV, two other bodies flying beside him.

Right as Spencer blinks to get his bearings, a body comes crashing over him. It takes him far too long to realize that it’s Luke.

“Alvez,” Spencer murmurs, trying to worm his way out of the other man’s grasp. “Alvez! I’m fine,”

Breathlessly, Luke responds, “Stay down, Reid,”

“Luke it’s fine,” Spencer tries to insist, “We’re fine. There was only one,”

When he tries to push himself up again Luke keeps him down. “Stay down!”

Spencer tries a different tactic, grabbing on to the side of Luke’s jacket. “Hey, look at me,” He urges, ignoring his own uncomfortableness to make eye contact. “Look at me, I’m okay. You’re okay too. We’re in Iowa, got it?”

Closing his eyes and whispering a mantra Spencer can’t quite hear, Luke rolls off of Spencer, resting his back against the SUV. “Fuck,” He mutters. “Sorry, Reid. I don’t- I-”

“It’s okay,” Spencer quickly interrupts. “You don’t have to explain anything to me. I get it.”

Luke doesn’t look convinced, but he still nods. “Shit, Rossi?” He suddenly notes, eyes going wide, “Rossi?”

Pulling himself off the ground, Rossi murmurs, “Shut it, I’m fine,” He doesn’t sound fine, but Luke knows better than to push it. 

Relaxing back into the side of the car, Luke acknowledges, “Well, I guess the unsub wasn’t here. Hopefully the others were able to secure him.”

Spencer nods, grimacing at his throbbing head. “Ugh, yeah.”

“You alright, Reid?”

“I’m fine,” Spencer mutters. “Feels a bit anticlimactic to go back to the precinct after a bomb like this,”

With a shrug Rossi points out, “Someone had to draw the short straw. Besides, we’ll get CSI out here so we don’t have to deal with it,”

“Yeah.” Spencer sighs, pulling himself off the ground to get inside the vehicle. 

The two other men follow suit, and before they know it they’re heading back from the outskirts of Des Moines to a place of actual civilization.

*

Back at the precinct, JJ’s the first one to find Spencer, half sitting on a swivel chair. “Spence, I heard what happened. Are you okay?”

Nodding, he replies, “We’re all good. Take down go okay?”

“Yeah,” JJ confirms. “Lewis’ gonna have a few bruises, but nothing that won’t be fixed by a warm shower and arnica gel.”

“‘S good,” Spencer notes. “Are we heading out soon?”

“Couple of hours,”

“Great,” Spencer murmurs, standing up from his chair.

Catching his arm, JJ warns, “Whoa, Spence, you alright? Pretty shaky there,”

Spencer takes a few seconds to let his vision stop swimming before he replies, “Just coming down from adrenaline,” He answers, before expanding, “At the end of an adrenaline rush the body’s blood sugar drops extremely quickly, which gives the effects of shaky and weak limbs,”

“Just sit back down for me, yeah?”

Scrunching his nose, Spencer counters, “But I’m fine,”

“Humor me, Spence.”

“Fine,” Grumbles, but is still happy to not have to hold himself up any longer. The movement causes Spencer’s vision to swim again, but he’s able to rub it away by digging the palm of his hand into his eye sockets.

Dropping a few files by Spencer and JJ, Tara greets, “Hey, how’re you doing?”

Waving her off, Spencer replies, “Oh, I’m good. How about you? JJ said you got hurt?”

With a snort, Tara replies, “It’s nothing. Overzealous unsub, if you know what I mean,”

“Yeah,” Spencer agrees with a smile. Motioning to the files, he asks, “What are these?”

Tara sinks into the chair next to him and mutters, “Last bit of paperwork before we can head out. Cruz wants it finished before we head home,”

JJ sets a hand on his shoulder before she notes, “I gotta go check in with Emily on a few things, but I’ll grab my files later. You guys should probably start working on them,”

Spencer makes a face, but dutifully opens the files, prepared to speed read his way through and then grab a cup of coffee before the jet. However, he only gets a few paragraphs in when his vision begins to swim again.

Grumbling under his breath, Spencer rubs his eyes and goes back to reading. By the time he’s a page in, it feels like his old migraines are back, and Spencer just wants to close his eyes and put his head down. Instead he blinks to clear his vision, and signs something at the bottom of the page that he barely read through.

When Spencer moves to grab another file, his vision splits in two, and his fingers miss the paper by a long few inches.

Tara looks up at him with a grin, barely concealing her smile. “You good, Reid?”

Forcing a smile to his own face, Spencer muses, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired from this case. I’ll definitely be sleeping one the jet,” He adds, finally getting a grasp on his next paper.

His sudden onset migraine continues to make it difficult for Spencer to read, and by the time he’s done with page one, he’s reading at a normal person’s speed. Which ordinarily shouldn’t be concerning, but it’s sending alarm bells off in Spencer’s head.

Swallowing, Spencer asks, “Hey, Tara?”

“What’s up?” She acknowledges, nose still in her own files.

“Are you sure Cruz needed these by today?”

Setting her pen down, she claims, “He was pretty adamant about it. Why?” Tara looks up at Spencer, and frowns. “You don’t look so good, you okay?”

Rubbing a hand over his face, Spencer murmurs, “Migraine,”

“Crap,” Tara notes. “‘You take anything for them? Have any meds I can get for you?”

“No,” Spencer mutters. “They usually just go away on their own.”

With a nod, Tara points out, “We can talk to Emily. Maybe get an extra day on the paperwork?”

“Ugh,” Spencer groans. “Yeah, maybe.” When he pulls his hand away from his head he sees two and a half tables in front of him, causing his frown to deepen. The dizziness comes back, and when Spencer reaches out for the table in front of him, he completely misses. Apparently at least one of the tables he’s seeing isn’t real.

“Reid, are you sure you’re okay? Did you hit your head?”

“No, it was my back,” Spencer replies, thinking of the thud of his body as it hit the SUV doors. “At least I think it was,” Maybe he hit his head on the way down?

Nausea adding to his discomfort, Spencer swallows, trying to focus on a single spot on the table. Unfortunately it doesn’t help much when the single spot turns into three different ones, each slightly translucent, a few inches away from the last.

Tara still hasn’t looked back to her own paperwork, and at this point it’s the last thing on her mind. Pushing her chair out a bit, she finds the next closest BAU member, “Hey, Rossi?”

“Everything alright?” He asks, eyebrows raised.

“Did Reid hit his head when he was with you guys?”

Frowning, Rossi thinks back, “I don’t think so? I didn’t see him though,” Walking over to Spencer, he questions, “Hey kid, you feeling alright?”

“Migraine,” Spencer mumbles, shutting his eyes.

“When did it start?” Rossi questions, sending Tara a look rather than Spencer’s closed eyes. “You didn’t seem to be bad at the house,”

With a groan, Spencer replies, “That’s ‘cause I didn’t have a headache back at the house,”

“Do your migraines usually come on this fast?” Tara asks, alarmed.

“No,” Spencer murmurs.

Frowning, Rossi requests, “Kid, bring your head up. Lemme see it,”

Keeping his eyes shut, Spencer lifts up his head, leaning into the touch when Rossi checks for bumps.

“Fuck, kid,”

Eyes wide, Tara questions, “What is it?”

“Your head’s swelling in the back. Why didn’t you say anything?”

Letting his head rest back on his forearms, Spencer replies, “Didn’t realize something was wrong,”

Rossi just sighs. “Alright, c’mon, we’re going to the hospital,”

“Wha- uh, no,” Spencer weakly protests. 

“Yep.” Rossi seamly responds, pushing the swivel chair a few feet from the table. “C’mon. Up and at ‘em,”

When he feels the older man tug at his arm, Spencer pushes himself up from the chair, takes a single step, and nearly collapses.

“Fuck, Lewis-”

“Got him, I got him,” Tara responds, jumping out of her seat to catch Spencer before he falls down onto the dirty precinct floor.

“Alright kid, to the car, let’s go,”

Spencer takes a few stumbling steps, and would’ve walked into a table if it weren’t for the two other people leading him. When he reaches the outside, he sags a bit in relief from the chilly air. He didn’t realize how suffocating the building was until now.

Rossi and Tara easily deposit Spencer in the passenger seat. “Are you good from here?” Tara asks, face contorted in worry.

Nodding, Rossi replies, “Yeah, we’ll be fine. Go find Prentiss and tell her?”

“Yeah, of course,” She replies, and with one last glance at Spencer, she turns to head back into the station.

“Alright, kid, you’re gonna be fine,” Rossi acknowledges as he shuts the car door, partly for Spencer and partly for himself.

Although Rossi doesn’t use the sirens, he sure as hell isn’t following the speed limit, but he doesn’t exactly care about that. Looking over at Spencer’s clenched shut eyes, Rossi sighs, “You’ve got to stop getting hurt,”

Groaning, Spencer replies, “‘S not like I want to be getting hurt,”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Rossi replies with a chuckle. “Cruz is gonna have to start pulling from your paycheck with the amount of hospital visits you have,”

Half of Spencer’s lip rises up as he pokes back, “Cruz wishes he could change my paycheck. The girls down in accounting love me,”

“Oh yeah? For your big brain?”

“Mmhm,” Spencer confirms, currently wishing that his big brain would stop throbbing in pain.

With enough practice leading drunk relatives (and occasionally wives), Rossi is able to get Spencer from the parked car to the ER, before dropping him into a chair. “Stay there,” He instructs, although the older man’s pretty sure Spencer couldn’t move if he wanted to.

After a few moments he’s back with Spencer, giving him a concerned look. “How’re you doing?”

“Dizzy,” Spencer quietly replies.

“Dizzy?” Rossi questions, “You haven’t even opened your eyes,”

“That’s ‘cause I get double vision,” Spencer murmurs. “Triple vision,” He adds.

Sighing, Rossi complains, “Dammit, kid,” Under his breath. “I wasn’t joking, you do have to stop getting hurt.”

When Spencer’s name is called, Rossi and a nurse help Spencer down to a bed in the ER, closed off by a couple of curtains. After listing out symptoms, Spencer is wheeled for a few scans of his brain, leaving Rossi sitting in an old plastic chair.

Unsurprisingly, he has quite a few missed calls from Emily.

She answers on the first ring, “Is he okay?”

“I think so,” Rossi truthfully answers. “He was still conscious. Just in pain. The doctors are working to see what the problem is now.”

He can hear Emily sigh on the other end. “Rossi, what happened?”

With a sigh of his own, Rossi answers, “I’m not completely sure. The bomb went off and sent us flying a bit. Spencer hit the SUV and Alvez and I hit the fence.”

“Did you see him hit his head?”

“No,” Rossi responds. “I’m not sure what happened right after, and I’d be willing to bet that Alvez doesn’t either,”

“Wh- oh.” Emily cuts herself off, internally cursing herself for being so stupid.

Nodding, even though she can’t see it, Rossi confirms, “It was like I was back in the jungle for a few moments there. I can only imagine Alvez reacted the same.”

“Are you two okay? For sure?”

Rubbing a hand over his face, Rossi replies, “Just shaken up. And worried about the kid, of course,”

“Yeah,” Emily chuckles. “Garcia’s gonna freak when she hears about this,”

“I can already hear the high pitched shriek,” Rossi fondly notes. “Listen, I’ll keep you updated, but we should be fine here for now.”

“Alright.” Emily acknowledges. “I’ll either call back in an hour or just come by, depending on the state of the precinct.”

“Don’t worry about us,”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Rossi lets the cell phone drop in his lap, before rubbing his hands over his tired face. Between the bomb and Spencer, he knows he isn’t going to be getting much sleep for at least the next week.

Luckily, Spencer is wheeled back after a few minutes, looking more annoyed than anything else.

“How’re you doing, kid?” Rossi asks, giving a friendly nod to the doctor accompanying him.

With a groan, Spencer replies, “Tired. And they’re going to cut my head open,”

“They’re going to what now?” Rossi asks, but he’s directing the question at the doctor.

Very quickly, she puts her hands up and explains, “We just need to release some pressure, and Doctor Reid here will be good to go. It’s a short procedure, and he won’t even need to be sedated, just local anesthetic.”

Frowning, Spencer puts in, “I don’t take narcotics,”

Nodding, the doctor notes, “We’ll make sure to not use narcotics.” Turning to Rossi she adds, “We’re going to want to do this procedure as soon as we can, is there anything we need to know about Doctor Reid before we begin?”

“Just no narcotics, like he said,” Rossi replies.

“Great, I’ll grab my nurses and we can get started,”

Spencer keeps his eyes closed the entire time, but he can still feel the amount of people around him. He feels the strange sting of anesthetic, but otherwise doesn’t feel much.

It’s a strange feeling, losing pressure in his head, but it’s extremely relieving. Minutes after they’ve finished, nearly all of Spencer’s pain has dissipated, and he opens his eyes again. The lights are bright, but they don’t come with pain.

“Hey kid,”

Looking to the side, Spencer sees Rossi, and gives him a little wave. “Hi, Rossi.”

“How’re you feeling?”

Clearing his throat, Spencer answers, “Better.”

Rossi nods, before sighing at the kid. “When were you planning on telling us you hit your head?”

“I didn’t realize it was that bad,”

“That seems to be a theme with you, kid,”

Frowning, Spencer tries to defend himself, “I thought it was just a headache,”

“Has it ever occurred to you that if your headaches are as painful as head trauma from a bomb, something might be wrong?”

With a shrug, Spencer points out, “I have tried to figure out what’s wrong. And there was nothing.”

“And nothing helps?”

“No,” Spencer muses. “Maeve helped for a while, but…”

“But the pain came back,” Rossi finishes.

Nodding, Spencer answers, “Yeah.”

Sighing, Rossi points out, “You know you could’ve told us, right?”

“What would be the point?”

“We could’ve helped. We  _ can _ help if you’re still getting migraines,”

Spencer focuses on the bed sheet in front of him, and replies, “Yeah,” Although he’s unconvinced.

“I’m serious, kid. You gotta tell us when you’re hurting,”

“I will,”

“You promise?”

Smirking, Spencer questions, “What are you, twelve?” When Rossi only replies with raising his eyebrows, Spencer sighs and agrees, “I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> thinking 'bout the fact that rossi and luke both have ptsd from war and the show lowkey didn't mention that
> 
> So anyway I hope you all enjoyed today's! I like writing Tara because I lowkey (highkey) have a very gay crush on Aisha Tyler but that's not important xD. As always, I love talking to you guys, and so you should totally come talk with me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/appalachianapologies) (AppalachianApologies) if you'd like! I'm always so down to meet new people :D
> 
> I love you all very much, and I hope you all are doing okay. If you find yourself in a bad or scary situation, here are some hotlines (Please keep in mind that the written out numbers are US hotlines)
> 
> National Suicide Hotline: 1-800-273-8255  
> National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673  
> National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
> 
> If you don't live in America and need someone to talk to, here's a list of [international hotlines.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines)  
> You are not alone, and I love you all <3
> 
> Much love to all of you, and take care until tomorrow!! <3
> 
> ((PS, tomorrow is the resolution for day 10 which I'm very very excited to share))


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